Chapter 226

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Chapter 226

This room was almost devoid of any liveliness. She hadn’t slept here in about a year, only coming up once a week to tidy up her clothes or change outfits when she went out. Xerath reached out and opened the door of the closet, one by one changing her shoes and coat, then entered the bathroom, filled the bathtub, and immersed herself in it. She leaned blankly against the edge of the tub until the water cooled down and the skin on her fingertips became wrinkled, finally realizing that she should get up.

"Self-control" is a very exhausting behavior. She felt like her seemingly endless energy was being completely drained. She was enveloped by deep exhaustion, causing her thoughts to become blurry as she lay on the bed.

No, don’t sleep, you have to say goodbye to today.

Say goodbye to the self who was too indulgent today and almost got into trouble.

Say goodbye to the self who spent the past year alone, daydreaming without restraint.

During the time when Xerath should be sleeping but didn’t, Sylas also couldn’t sleep because of excessive excitement. After almost two years without Xerath at school, she finally gets to see her every day. The joyful memories keep flashing before her eyes, so she becomes even more excited. There were several times when she jumped up and ran upstairs to share with Xerath.

Maybe only she can understand!

But every time she stopped at her own bedroom door.

Compared to her enthusiastically clinging to Xerath, the archmage’s attitude of not refusing but not being enthusiastic formed a sharp contrast with her. Obviously, Xerath’s character is reserved and distant, always keeping others at a distance, certainly not as eager to be with her as she is.

Moreover, the scrutinizing gaze from Xerath makes her feel concerned. At first, this strange expression made Sylas feel unfamiliar, but as the scenes of the past appeared one by one, she remembered that this is actually an expression she is familiar with—only Xerath never used this kind of expression to look directly at her, only when "critically" thinking about a problem would she reveal it.

The so-called "critical thinking," as the name implies, is to find flaws and contradictions to attack. She didn’t want to face the archmage’s questioning at such a young age.

Did Xerath notice? She is reflecting on her actions and at first, she thought it was just a little bit of excitement for Xerath. However, suddenly, she realized that she seemed to have excluded the almost immediate kiss at the end of the dance, and she broke out in a cold sweat.

How could she forget such an important thing! Xerath would definitely care a lot about it… She interrupted that thought, as Xerath didn’t seem to mind too much at that moment. They were pressed against each other, very close, with her arms around her waist and her shoulder hooked. Everything felt natural, like it could only happen in a dream.

This had already crossed the boundaries she had once believed in, but Xerath just tolerated it. At the end of the day, she looked at herself with a scrutinizing gaze…

Is she… Is she observing my motives?

The excitement that kept her awake suddenly receded like the tide, leaving her deeply frustrated and sinking into a suffocating abyss. She struggled in there for a while, then fell asleep as if trying to escape.

So it was quite a coincidence that the two elemental envoys overslept together. When Sylas woke up, she noticed that the brightness in the room seemed slightly off. After pondering for a moment, she realized what was wrong – her room would only be without sunlight after morning.

She quickly jumped out of bed and saw that the clock pointed to eleven. In a flurry, she fastened the buttons on her shirt wrong and didn’t properly tuck her shirt into her pants. She hastily threw these things on, under her apprentice robe, and hurried to the living room, fearing that Fatty Footstool may have gotten too hungry to walk.

Apparently, she was worrying too much. Fatty Footstool is a footstool that can call someone to feed it. It was behaving so obediently because there was already someone in the living room.

The sun had already moved to the side of the tower, casting a shadow in front of the only French window. Xerath sat in her lounge chair, with her legs crossed and resting on Titus’s back, her fair hands holding a cup, and she stared blankly out the window.

The sound of the careless apprentice bumping into the door made her slowly turn around. She gently placed down the teacup and saucer, and the soft and pleasant voice calmed Sylas’s restlessness, just like a hand smoothing out messy fur.

"…Teacher, I… I woke up late."

Xerath looked meaningfully at the hourglass clock on the wall and said, "In the afternoon, we will go to Withered Leaf City to buy things. Would you like something to drink?" She tapped the teapot on the coffee table.

Sylas sat down on the sofa near her, and a teacup somersaulted and bounced in front of her. The teapot lowered its head on its own and filled her cup with a light-colored liquid.

"I added a little less sugar, hopefully you won’t find it too sweet anymore."

Sylas nervously sat there, Xerath’s attitude polite yet distant, just like every time she tried to get close to Xerath but was pushed away, she could feel it.

She held the cup close to her lips, her little face wrinkled with distress, but suddenly a fair hand appeared in front of her. Xerath reached out and hooked the bottom of the cup, gently lifting it up and forcing the warm liquid into her mouth.

Sylas took a big gulp and managed to swallow it down. Like magic, the archmage flicked her wrist and somehow produced a handkerchief. The small piece of silky fabric was folded into a ball by those attractive fingers, lightly pressed against her mouth, wiping away the spilled liquid.

"Teacher…"

Xerath smiled gently, pressed her hand against her lips, and said softly, "I just woke up. It’s lunchtime, perfect timing."

"Was it me… Was I too tired yesterday?"

Xerath’s gray eyes gazed quietly at her. "What about you? Were you also tired from last night?"

Sylas dared not tell the truth, so she nodded reluctantly, "Yeah, a little…"

"Aren’t you hungry? It’s been almost fifteen hours since you last ate, from yesterday till now."

Her stomach answered for her with a loud growl, making her blush. Xerath stood up and brought over about a quarter of a pie, it seemed to have chicken and some kind of sauce inside. "If you don’t want to wait, why not have a bite first? It’s the leftover from when I was cutting it."

She emphasized the word "cut", probably not wanting Sylas to think it was her leftovers. The edges of the pie were smooth, just like when girls at school would share some snacks to prove their innocence. But Sylas wanted to tell her that she was overthinking it.

Sylas picked up the quarter piece of pie from the plate and took the first bite. She realized she was really hungry and ate it voraciously.

"Let’s leave after we finish eating. I think you won’t want to eat Nislan food anymore, right? How about going to that Campochio restaurant instead?"

Sylas looked up, nodded obediently. In fact, as long as she was with Xerath, it didn’t matter where they went, she would always be happy.

Xerath stood up and walked slowly around the living room, all the way to the cabinet. "Later, we’re going to apply for a key for you, return books to the library, buy magazines for this month, buy steak, corn, carrots…"

Her actions may seem a bit strange, but Sylas knew it was her way of remembering things. The older mages did it too, but many young people didn’t know this ancient memory method. That’s why they were always amazed at Sylas’s ability to remember everything.

Xerath didn’t mind what they did. She couldn’t wait to go out and walk with her master. As long as they were together in time and space, it was enough. If they could have some physical contact, it would be even better. She stood up happily, stood in front of Xerath and said, "I’m ready to go."

The archmage frowned slightly, raised the handkerchief in her hand, wiped the sauce off her face, and asked with a serious tone, "How did you manage to get the nickname ‘Little Fairy’?"

Sylas quickly covered her face, rubbed it hard. Xerath sighed and said, "It’s all clean now, let’s go."

She stood up and walked outside the living room, with Titus obediently following behind. The library was empty and quiet, amplifying the sound of the leather shoes. A moose walked out from behind the bookshelf and watched them as they walked further into the library.

Withered Leaf City was much cooler than Star Song Castle, and surprisingly, it was overcast today. However, the cloud above the archmage’s head remained in place, dutifully drifting along until they reached the restaurant where it dispersed on its own.

After sitting down and ordering their meal, Xerath sighed and said, "Although I think it’s inhumane to put you in work mode right away… the plan should be made early. Have you decided how you want to proceed before graduating?"

Sylas felt guilty at first. She had thought about this question, but she never really thought about it seriously. She couldn’t wait to be back with Xerath and was planning to delay graduation for as long as possible. Her only goal and wish in life was to stay by Xerath’s side, even if it meant being a funny pet.

There were just too many skills that the archmage needed to learn to be funny.

It was too late to think about it now. She didn’t have much to refer to. Luna and Caroline both wanted to enter the tower and study for a while before thinking about graduation. So the concept of "graduation" itself was compressed into a vague word.

Seeing her confusion, the archmage frowned, sighed, and said, "You have to pass either a thesis, practical test, or written exam. This will determine your plans for the next few years."

"…Should I start with thesis?" She observed Xerath’s expression cautiously, but the old wizard’s face remained indifferent, showing no signs of satisfaction. She had no choice but to add, "…Do you have any suggestions for me?"

Xerath sighed again, understanding completely that Sylas had no plans whatsoever. "Since you just graduated, and you’re still familiar with exams, why not try the written exam and sign up for the one six months from now?"

"Oh… Then let’s prepare for the written exam first! What’s the usual process? Is half a year enough time?"

"I don’t know about that. It took me about two years to prepare for the written exam. Like most people, I spent two years taking short courses at Star Song Castle, which is a kind of training specifically for the exam."

"I only have half a year?"

"If you think it’s too short, why don’t you continue taking the short-term course at Star Song Castle?"